August 25th, 2006On this day in different years
Feed your dog, your companion before yourself.
Before you begin your meal, feed someone else. Traditionally in India a five-fold
offering is made: to the sacred fire, a cow, a crow, a dog, and another human being,
who might be a child, a beggar, or anyone else outside one's own family. This is a
practical thanks to Nature, a feeding of some of Her children in gratitude to Her for
providing you some of Her other children as sacrifices for consumption. And, it is another
way of controlling Ahamkara (egoism), an admission that the food is intended not for mere
self-gratification but for the greater good of all beings. Feed anyone - a pet, a plant, a
neighbour, a stranger- so you can experience a little of Nature's joy, the joy which a
mother feels when she feeds her children and watches them grow and develop in consequence.
http://www.hinduism.co.za/food.htm
offering is made: to the sacred fire, a cow, a crow, a dog, and another human being,
who might be a child, a beggar, or anyone else outside one's own family. This is a
practical thanks to Nature, a feeding of some of Her children in gratitude to Her for
providing you some of Her other children as sacrifices for consumption. And, it is another
way of controlling Ahamkara (egoism), an admission that the food is intended not for mere
self-gratification but for the greater good of all beings. Feed anyone - a pet, a plant, a
neighbour, a stranger- so you can experience a little of Nature's joy, the joy which a
mother feels when she feeds her children and watches them grow and develop in consequence.
http://www.hinduism.co.za/food.htm